Nov. 10, 2009
COLLEGE STATION -- Texas A&M has been named the top school in the Big 12 for the digital marketing of its men's basketball program by Digital Hoops Blast, a respected blog by Nike Director of Brand Marketing Andy Pawlowski.
Pawlowski provides a "digital scouting report" on every major school in the country, broken down by conference. He critiques the schools based on how effectively he thinks they are marketing their basketball programs to recruits in the digital world, which includes not only the internet but also social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
Before rating the Big 12, he offered a prediction on how the schools would fare based on nothing but his pre-analysis perception. He predicted Texas would be the best, followed by: 2. Oklahoma State, 3. Kansas, 4. Missouri, 5. Oklahoma, 6. Texas Tech, 7. Iowa State, 8. Texas A&M, 9. Kansas State, 10. Nebraska, 11. Baylor, 12. Colorado.
The final rankings were 1. Texas A&M, 2. Baylor, 3. Nebraska, 4. Oklahoma, 5. Kansas State, 6. Iowa State, 7. Missouri, 8. Oklahoma State, 9. Kansas, 10. Texas, 11. Colorado, 12. Texas Tech.
Pawlowski wrote that A&M's biggest strength was Mark Turgeon's Virtual Virtual Guide, which includes a variety of interactive elements. He also cited many elements of AggieAthletics.com, including blogs by senior guard Donald Sloan and Director of Athletics Bill Byrne. Pawlowski praises Head Coach Mark Turgeon for being "super active" on Twitter.
"A&M delivers a great experience," Andy writes. "I'm pumped to follow them this season."